The 2006 Italian Culture Year in China is set to open with an exhibition of Italian Renaissance art at the Millennium World Art Museum in Beijing on January 21.

A total of 86 paintings, sculptures and tapestries of the Italian Renaissance masters have been delivered to Beijing.

The masterpieces will be on display at an exhibition entitled "Italian Renaissance Art" at the Millennium World Art Museum of the Millennium Monument in southwest Beijing from January 21 to April 23.

Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Titian are among the masters whose works will be on display.

Yesterday, A Portrait of a Young Lady by Piero Pollaiuolo, valued at 500 million yuan (US$61.9 million), was officially examined and received by the Chinese side. It was the first artwork to be taken out of dozens of boxes that traveled 10,000 kilometers under strict security from museums in Florence, Italy.

"In Florence, the artworks are displayed in many museums across the city, but in Beijing they have been brought together for the grandest show to be held in China," Wang Limei, director of the Millennium Museum, said.

The collection is on loan from 12 museums in Florence, Wang said.

The last consignment of artwork slated for display is expected to arrive in Beijing tomorrow.

According to Li Shaoping, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the Italian Culture Year in China will feature dozens of other events including an exhibition of avant-garde art from the Venice Biennale at the National Museum of China, and opera performances in Beijing and Shanghai. 

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn January 16, 2006)